Mr Michalos said: "Rage Against the Machine last year showed that it can be done, but while it was good to see something different get Christmas number one, it didn't really sum up the feeling of Christmas.

"I decided I would write my own song as a bit of fun and the end result was Rock 'n' Rolling Snowman. I approached a recording studio and a couple of musician friends of mine agreed to record it for free.

"Christmas songs really need to encapsulate the feeling of goodwill at this time of year. They should be upbeat and make people smile.

"The trouble is the same five or six songs enter the charts at this time of year and it gets very boring."

The song and video were recorded on a budget of just £100 but is now being sold on iTunes and Amazon.

It was named by Yahoo! as one of the top ten contenders for the Christmas chart alongside Annie Lennox with God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, George Michael's December Song, Mariah Carey performing O' Come All Ye Faithful and Shane MacGowan, who has teamed up with The Priests to record Little Drummer Boy.

The video has also proved to be a big hit in the United States where it has received a healthy following.

Mr Michalos added: "They seem to really be enthusiastic about it over there, and the hits go up massively when New York wakes up."